The Unsung Heroes of Australian Entertainment
We’re delighted to announce our forthcoming event with Jacquelin (Jacqx) Melilli on 27 July 2025 at the Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation in partnership with Theatre Heritage Australia.
Jacqx Melilli will be sharing her research journey for her Australian historical fiction novel When The Glitter Fades. The story spans from the 1920s to the 1950s and is loosely based on Alf Broadway’s Pantomime Players and the challenges they faced surviving the Great Depression.
Jacqx met Alf’s daughter, Shirley Barnett (nee Broadway), in the year 2000 when they were both involved in community theatre. Shirley shared her story about being born into a family of vaudeville performers, her experience as a child performer, and later working with Bert Newton and Graham Kennedy in the early years of Australian television. Jacqx wondered why these great Australian stories weren’t being preserved into the history archives and shared with the world? Challenge accepted.
While Jacqx had originally planned on writing Shirley’s biography, she struggled to piece together an accurate portrayal of Shirley’s parent’s start in showbiz that went beyond Shirley’s memory. So, she decided to use the foundation of the Broadways story and create fictional characters and an engaging page turning storyline.
Because the motivation to write When The Glitter Fades was to preserve Australian showbiz history, Jacqx wanted to record some of the skits and pantomimes the Broadways performed. The skits mentioned in When The Glitter Fades were recollections Shirley shared with Jacqx and not necessarily accurate to the time period. However, the pantomime and variety acts were sourced from digitalised newspaper advertisements on the Trove website and were accurately dated.
Jacqx’s research journey included three trips to Victoria to visit the State Library, the Melbourne Arts Centre, interview Hugh Stuckey, and retrace one of the troupe’s touring circuits where the devastating ‘accident’ happened. The presentation will include photographs.
About Jacquelin Melilli
Jacquelin (Jacqx) Melilli’s French and Spanish heritage blessed her with multiple language skills, but it wasn’t until she migrated to Australia and mastered the English language that her passion for writing stories was ignited. Jacqx completed a Master of Arts degree in Writing and Literature from Deakin University where she studied creative writing, editing, publishing, scriptwriting and media text for children. She founded her writing and editing business, Jacq of all Trades, Master of Writing in 2002 to assist people to write their stories.
Jacqx is also passionate about film, television and theatre. She is a playwright and the author of the educational book series Lights, Camera, Action on filmmaking and theatre production. Other published works are one-act plays Can Anybody Hear Me? Foreigners in Oztralia, Little Red Meets the Dingo, Goldisocks and the Three Koalas, Lost Child, Secrets That Define Us, a short story, and her debut novel, When The Glitter Fades.
Join us at 2.30pm at SB&W on 27 July 2025 for The Stage on Sunday, a joint program with the Foundation and Theatre Heritage Australia.
All are welcome. This event is free but bookings are essential and must be made through SB&W.
Theatre Heritage Australia in partnership with Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation presents
The Stage on Sunday: Jacquelin Melilli
2.30pm, Sunday 27 July 2025
Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation | Suite 10, 20 Young Street Neutral Bay NSW
Bookings: (02) 9955 5444